DREAM
by DangerousDreams
Summary: What if it never really happened?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Can you imagine if Rukia died in Ichigo's closet? He'd be soooo screwed! How would he explain _that_? "Hey, Dad, there's a dead girl in my closet." And no, I have no idea why that popped into my head. Anyway, this, in my opinion, is my first angsty fic!

_ Something's… not right_, was his first thought as soon as he woke up. He sat up in bed and looked around. His room looked completely normal, but it felt like something was missing. He thought for a moment, then shrugged and got up.

It was a Sunday, and they had stayed up late the night before fighting Hollows, so he didn't wake Rukia up, instead sitting at his desk, doing his homework. At ten, though, he got a bit worried and wondered if maybe Rukia was sick or something? He knocked softly on the closet door, waited a moment, then opened it when he heard nothing.

There was nobody there, and no sign that anyone had slept there. "Hunh, I wonder where she could be…" Fighting a tiny seed of panic deep within him, he went back to his homework. But after another hour, she still hadn't returned from… wherever she was.

He searched for her reaitsu, but there was no trace of it anywhere. The seed had now sprouted, and was growing mush too quickly for his liking. He couldn't feel her comforting presence, like a candle in a window on a cold snowy day. That was what he had felt was wrong before. Now that he had identified the problem, it was as though he had a splinter, one of those teeny invisible ones that hurt like Hell.

"Where are you… Rukia?" he said quietly, then put his hand over his mouth in shock. _I almost forgot her name! What's wrong with me?_

He went downstairs, where his father and sisters were playing a board game.

"Morning, Ichigo!" his father yelled, loudly and obnoxiously. "Sleep well?"

"Gods, do you ever shut UP?" he yelled, frustrated, and punched Isshin. Leaving his father crying to the girls about his bloody nose, Ichigo went outside and started running down the streets, calling her name, feeling like a fool. The seed of panic was growing into a poisonous, thorny vine that gripped his heart, icy cold.

"COME ON, TATSUKI! LET'S GO SWIMMING!" Orihime's cheerful voice reached him a millisecond before she did, running around the corner and straight into him. They collided and both fell backwards.

Tatsuki rounded the corner to see both of them sitting on the ground, rubbing their heads. Ichigo got up and offered a hand to Orihime, who blushed and got up without his help.

"You okay, Inoue-san?" he asked.

"Yes! I'm perfectly fine!" she exclaimed. He wondered shy she seemed so formal and embarrassed with him now. After rescuing Rukia, they had become closer. Speaking of which…

"Tatsuki, Inoue-san, have you guys seen Rukia?"

"Rukia? Is that the name of a dog or something?" Orihime asked.

"No! Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia, in our class, you know, short, skinny, black hair, violet eyes, flat chest, bad temper-"

"Ichigo, are you feeling all right?" Tatsuki put a hand on his forehead. "There's no Kuchiki in our class." He swore and ran off, waving goodbye to them.

A/N: Dunh dunh duuuuhhhhnnnn. What is wrong with everyone??? Guess you'll have to wait to find out. * Other Self: Sadistic author. Me: WHAT WAS THAT? Other Self: nothing*

And BTW I already finished this fic. I just haven't typed it all up yet. Sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Second chappi. No, I have no witty comment right now… Sorry. Oh, and thanks again to my lovely beta, Thief Of Black Winged Hearts. In my original, apparently Urahara was a "grumpy old man"… so now he's [hopefully] more in character. BTW this whole thing was inspired by in the anime, when he was looking at the hole in his house made by the "truck" [first or second episode] and he was wondering whether it was all a dream.

He found himself outside Urahara Shoten, catching his breath. He entered, and the doorbell chimed a happy note. He stopped short and stared. He was surrounded by art supplies. Paint, markers, and sketchpads stared at him happily, asking him why was he there? He saw a familiar sketchpad. It was Rukia's! He grabbed it and flipped through it, and as he went on his excitement died. It was blank. This was just the same brand of sketchpad as her's. There were about ten more waiting right behind it. He didn't want to put it back, instead holding it to his chest and walking to the cash register.

"I want to buy this, please," he said to the man behind the cash register, who was reading a magazine. He put down the magazine. It was Urahara, not wearing his hat. [Whaaaattttt?] He showed no sign of recognition.

"Urahara! Where's Rukia!"

"Excuse me? I don't know you. Why aren't you using an honorific with my name?" Urahara demanded. "And who is this… Rukia?"

"Dammit, stop screwing around! Kuchiki Rukia! She's your best customer! She's a Soul Reaper!"

"Mm-hm. So if she's my best customer, why don't I recall ever having met her? Is she your girlfriend or something?" he asked with a smirk on his face, enjoying the boy's blush as he vehemently denied it. Ah, how he loved messing with people…

"Wait a second…" he said, remembering something the boy had said. "What is Soul Reaper? Sounds positively ominous!" he exclaimed happily.

"You're a Soul Reaper yourself, you idiot! Here, take your cane and say 'Benihime'. It'll transform into a sword!" the boy said triumphantly.

Urahara, looking skeptical but amused at the same time, did it, and nothing happened. "All right then. Do you want a headstart before I call the loony bin?"

"What? Come on, you have to believe me!" Ichigo exclaimed, feeling frantic. Seeing the look on Urahara's face, though, he turned around, ready to walk out.

"Hey!" Urahara called.

Ichigo turned around hopefully. "What?"

"Are you gonna buy that sketchpad?"

"Oh… Yes. Here." Ichigo walked back to him and gave him the money. As he was giving Ichigo the receipt, Urahara said, "Wait a second… Rukia… Is her family name Kuchiki?"

"What?! You remember something?" Ichigo exclaimed happily. "Where is she?"

"Only messing with you. You told me before her family name was Kuchiki."

Ichigo clenched his fist and pulled it back, ready to punch him in the nose. "You bastard!"

Urahara shielded his head with his arms. "I'm going to call the police if you don't leave," he sang happily. Ichigo refrained from hitting him and stormed from the shop, feeling more hopeless than ever. That is, until he saw a familiar redhead walking down the street.

"RENJI!" he yelled, and the redhead turned around. He ran up to him, feeling extremely happy.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Renji asked defensively as soon as Ichigo reached him.

"Renji!" he said, ignoring the question. "Where's Rukia?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You grew up the Rukon District with Kuchiki Rukia. She's short, black-haired, violet-eyed, flat-chested, short-tempered. She was sentenced to death a while ago, and you and I helped save her." He didn't mention the fact that Renji had helped capture her in the first place. Renji had shown no sign of recognition all throughout this, and Ichigo grew angry. "Come on, you were, like, in love with her!" Renji rolled his eyes.

"Look, creep, I don't know who or what you're talking about, or how you know my name, but get away from me before I call the police!"

As a last resort, Ichigo started naming things he thought might trigger Renji's memory. "Byakuya, Zabimaru, Rukon-"

Renji punched him in the chest. "Get the hell away from me, weirdo!" He ran off.

"Dammit." Suddenly he thought of something he hadn't thought of before. "What if everything… was just a dream? What if she really doesn't exist?" The vines tightened and slice his heart opened. He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to cry like a little boy. "Rukia… you're just a figment of my imagination?"

A/N: And yet… Urahara is still hopelessly OOC. *whispers softly* I'm sorry. I've failed you all, especially my beta… *runs off crying*

*comes back* Oh! By the way, Part three will come… soon… *deep breath* I'm… sorryitsuckssobadly!!!!!!!!!!!*runs off again*


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well… Part 3 of 3 is here… I have sort of lost enthusiasm for this story now… People seem to not like it… but whatever. I'll finish it and get it out of the way. I might change it later… Because it seems like Ichigo would fight more to try to find her, ne? Guess what? I'm listening to Pirates of the Caribbean music right now!

DREAM Chapter 3

Years passed, and before he knew it he was in college. Every so often, he would see someone he thought he recognized from his dream, and he would ask them if they knew what happened to Rukia. No one did. Eventually someone directed him to a psychologist, who he told about the dream.

"I don't know why it seemed so… real. And I can't stop thinking about her. All the other people from the dream have faded, but she's still there, somewhat. I'm starting to forget even her… All I can remember for certain now is that her given name is Rukia and she has violet eyes."

The psychologist sighed. "It's probably just a very memorable dream. You need to get yourself a girlfriend. Get out of my office. I have another appointment in a few minutes, and gods know I need a break-" He left the psychologist rambling on and on about breaks and potatoes.

That night, he pulled out a packet of papers he hadn't looked at in years but couldn't bear to throw away. In his handwriting was scrawled: "Kuchiki Rukia is short. She's skinny and has a flat chest. Her hair is short and jet-black, with this weird little strand that always hangs in front of her eyes, which are deep violet. She gets angry easily, but seems to have a heart…deep down…somewhere… She's a shinigami, who helps souls pass on and protects humans and souls from Hollows, which are evil spirits. She helped me rescue my family by…"

He read the whole twenty-something pages several times, but each time it seemed like he was reading something about a fictional character in a book he had read long ago as a child.

He went to bed that night feeling as though there was a gaping hole where his heart should have been.

***

_Something's… not right_, was his first thought as soon as he woke up. He sat up in bed and looked around, and stared in shock. "Wait a second, this isn't… This isn't my dorm…" He was back at home, in his room, in his bed. He got up quickly, hardly daring to hope, and walked to the closet. He knocked softly on the closet door, waited a moment, then opened it when he heard nothing.

There was a little pile of blankets, rising and falling slowly with each breath Rukia took. The skinny, short, flat-chested, raven-haired, short-tempered, violet-eyed shinigami was sleeping. He poked her arm and she shot awake.

"Ichigo! What do want? It's…" she looked at his clock. "Oh. It's nine o' clock. Anyway, what do you-" she was cut off by him hugging her tightly. "Wha…?"

He let go and held her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders. He looked at her. "You're really there. Thank the gods."

She crossed her arms and shrugged, causing his hands to slide off her shoulders. "What is this all about, then?"

"Let me tell you about my nightmare last night…"

***

_fin_

A/N: Tada. I'm sorry it sucks so badly… Please forgive me.


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